Cupcake-n-Bake: Grandma's Tea Cookies

Remember when I posted the Olympics Cookies, and I promised to post the recipe for the cut-out cookies that I used? Well I'm fulfilling that promise in this post.

Now, I've been baking these for as long as I can remember. This is my Grandma's recipe, but I've always made them with my dad. Baking these were a Christmas tradition every year.

These cookies are very versatile. They can be decorated, or left plain. The plain ones are perfect for tea parties, and the decorated ones are great for when you want to impress.

Wanna make some?

Print the Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter
1/2 cup of solid shortening
2/3 cup of sugar
1 egg unbeaten
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl. Knead (with your hands) until ingredients are well mixed.

Yes, you must knead with your hands. I know its messy, but this will give you the prefect texture. Trust me when I say that you don't want to use a mixer.

Once all the ingredients are well mixed, your bowl should be fairly clean. Next, you'll want to start molding the dough together.

You'll want to start shaping the dough into a ball. I find it best to throw it around like its pizza dough or a softball or something.

You should be able to get your ball of dough pretty smooth.

If you are going to make casual cookies, shape your dough into a log. Using a knife, cut one inch slices into the dough. Bake at 350 until the edges are light brown. This should take around 8 minutes.

If you are making cut-out cookies, lightly dust a sheet of wax paper with flour. Roll out the dough until it is fairly thin.

Freeze the dough about 5 minutes before baking. Before doing that, though, pop a little piece of the dough in your mouth. I promise it will be worth it. Bake at 350 until the edges are light brown. This should take about 10 minutes.